1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to an improved method and system for simultaneously projecting a plurality of optical images onto a three-dimensional display surface, and more particularly to a desktop-based stereoscopic display system of compact construction allowing viewers to use their peripheral and stereoscopic vision and thus perceive displayed imagery with a sense of realism commensurate with natural viewing of physical reality.
2. Brief Description of State of the Art
In the contemporary period, stereoscopic display systems are widely used in diverse image display environments. The value of such image display systems resides in the fact that viewers can view objects with depth perception in three-dimensional space.
Most stereoscopic image display systems employ either planar or substantially planar display surfaces (i.e. screens) having an inherently limited field of view. While it is possible to extend the viewer's field of view by simply increasing the horizontal and vertical dimensions of the display screen, a number of tradeoffs naturally arise, such as excessively large display screens and image distortion which are unacceptable in typical viewing environments.
While prior art flat-screen stereoscopic display systems permit stereoscopic viewing of 3-D objects, such display systems generally do not permit scotopic viewing of 3-D objects. Consequently, whenever displayed imagery of three-dimensional objects is viewed stereoscopically using a flat-panel stereoscopic display system, such objects always appear to lack the sense of realism experienced during natural viewing of three-dimensional objects in physical reality.
In order to permit viewers to view objects peripheral as well as stereoscopically, some prior art projection-based display systems simultaneously display plural sets of images onto three-dimensional display surfaces which partially or entirely surround the viewer. Examples of such prior art stereoscopic projection display systems are described in greater detail in the 1993 technical paper "Surround-Screen Projection-Based Virtual Reality: The Design and Implementation of the CAVE" by Carolina Cruz-Neira, et al., (published at pages 135-142 in Volume 8 of the Journal of American Computing Machinery Association), as well as the references cited therein. While providing viewers with a greater sense of realism than otherwise attainable using planar or substantially planar display surfaces, such prior art stereoscopic projection display systems suffer from a number of shortcomings and drawbacks.
For example, prior art stereoscopic projection display systems have large footprints, requiring large amounts of floor space for normal set-up and operation. Also, in prior art projection display systems, the projection volume required by each image projector generally extends outside the overall display volume of the system, and thus large light-tight enclosures are required in normal light environments.
Consequently, using prior art image projection arrangements and display structures, it has been virtually impossible to construct a physically compact projection display system for high-resolution stereoscopic and peripheral viewing of displayed imagery of colored three-dimensional objects, in desktop-viewing environments.
Thus there is a great need in the art for a stereoscopic projection display system having such functionalities, while avoiding the shortcomings and drawbacks associated with prior art display systems and methodologies.